Living Laboratory One Year Results: Homes Averaged 16 Percent
Reduction in Electricity Usage with Highest Reduction at 32 Percent

Company marks Reliant Innovation Avenue one-year anniversary with the
release of findings and the launch of Reliant e-Sense® Now app

November 14, 2012 01:49 PM Eastern Standard Time

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--After living one year on the most energy-conscious block in the nation,
Reliant Innovation Avenue residents have reduced their electricity usage
by an average of 16 percent, with one home achieving a 32 percent
reduction in electricity usage. These results strongly suggest that when
homeowners are given the right tools, upgrades and information about
their electricity usage, they can change their habits and significantly
reduce electricity use.

Innovation Avenue consists of 12 homes ranging in age from recently
built to more than a century old. In October 2011, each home received a
customized set of energy efficiency upgrades and smart energy technology
products and services, designed to provide them with detailed
information about their electricity usage and costs.

These tools, some from Reliant’s suite of e-Sense® Smart Energy
Solutions, include home energy monitors, weekly summary emails detailing
their energy usage and estimated costs, solar panels and home
automation. In addition, several residents received insulation and an
air conditioning inspection and tune-up based on their individual needs.
Residents also participated in a pilot program for smart appliances and
Reliant’s Filters Made Easy® service in which new filters were delivered
directly to the residents’ homes when it was time for replacement.

For the one-year anniversary, Reliant compared Innovation Avenue
residents’ electricity usage to their usage prior to modifying their
homes. The results of the living laboratory experiment on Innovation
Avenue have revealed that:

Informing residents about their electricity usage caused them to
use less electricity. Residents saw decreases between one and 32
percent in electricity used over the last year as compared to the
previous year. The results varied from one home to the next depending
on services provided and the residents’ engagement with the
technologies installed in their homes.

Residents consistently utilized the Reliant e-Sense® Home Energy
Monitor. By being able to regularly see how much electricity their
homes were using in real time, residents could see when their
electricity usage peaked and make instant decisions to affect their
usage.

Installing solar panels has allowed one resident the ability to
create electricity, not just use it. The home of Innovation Avenue
residents Scott and Carol Beck was outfitted with Reliant Solar
Solutions, a residential solar panel leasing program. In one year, the
solar panels generated 2,927 kWh, saving Scott and Carol 15 percent on
their electricity usage.

“The nation can learn a lot from Innovation Avenue because it
demonstrates that people can considerably reduce their electricity usage
when they understand how they use it and make choices that are right for
them,” said Elizabeth Killinger, President of Reliant. “It’s remarkable
to have the data from a living laboratory with real families and even
children interacting with smart energy technology to prove that it works
and the whole family can work together to conserve.”

Residents said the Reliant e-Sense® Home Energy Monitor, manufactured by
Tendril, was one of their favorite tools. It helped them understand
their electricity usage and monthly bills and allowed them to visualize
the consumption of electricity when various appliances were in use. Once
they became aware of their electricity usage, they looked for ways to
modify their habits which helped reduce their electricity usage and
costs. Reliant also distributed the Reliant e-Sense® Home Energy
Monitors over 10,000 customers across Texas.

Using this direct feedback from Innovation Avenue residents, Reliant
developed the Reliant
e-Sense® Now application, a second generation smart energy tool
designed to bring the real-time information available on the Reliant
e-Sense® Home Energy Monitor along with additional electricity usage
information directly to the customer’s smart phone or tablet. Visit www.reliant.com/now
to learn more about the new Reliant e-Sense® Now application.

“I enjoy using the eSense Now app on the iPad. I like the portability of
course, but most of all, I like the ease of being able to get that much
information in an instantaneous way. Daily, weekly and monthly
summaries, literally, at my fingertips,” said Gil Costas, Innovation
Avenue resident.

Reliant exclusively offers a Learn and Conserve Plan that includes a
Nest Learning Thermostat. The Nest thermostat was added to one home
about mid-way through the year. Within about a month of installing the
Nest, using the Energy History feature, Costas discovered that his air
conditioning unit was nearing the end of its life and running 20 hours a
day to cool his home. With this information he was able to proactively
replace the unit and his total home electricity usage dropped by 40
percent.

“My favorite gadget has become the Nest Learning thermostat. It is
amazing that the thermostat has been able to learn the habits of the
house occupants, and adjusted itself accordingly,” Costas said.

The Reliant Innovation Avenue project was conceived and implemented with
the input and cooperation of the City of Houston. Reliant leads Texas in
bringing the benefits of smart energy technology to consumers with more
than 700,000 Reliant customers already using Reliant e-Sense® products
and services.

About Reliant:

Reliant provides electricity, energy services and smart energy solutions
to more than 1.5 million retail customers including homes, businesses,
manufacturing facilities, government entities and institutions in Texas,
Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts,
New Jersey and Pennsylvania. As part of NRG (NYSE: NRG), Reliant is
backed by a Fortune 500 company that is at the forefront of changing how
people think about and use energy. NRG is a pioneer in developing
cleaner and smarter energy choices for its customers and its diverse
power generating facilities can support over 20 million homes
nationwide. For more information about Reliant products and services,
visit www.reliant.com.

Contacts

ReliantPat Hammond, 713.537.2157

Release Summary

Residents in Reliant's living laboratory have reduced their electricity usage by an average of 16 percent, with one home using 32 percent less.